Outrage erupted online as a recording linked to the European Commission during Holocaust Remembrance Day circulated widely. The clip features several EU commissioners, including Ursula von der Leyen, and it calls attention to names of victims and the places where they perished. In one moment the label “Auschwitz camp” appears with the note “Poland”—without any mention that Poland was under German occupation at that time. Paweł Jabłoński, a Polish politician, criticized the recording in an interview with wPolityce.pl, claiming that the President of the European Commission, as a German national, must be aware of who bore responsibility for the crimes and who organized the genocide, yet this communication method was crafted and deployed with care.
This situation is seen by some as an attempt to whitewash Germany’s role in the crimes of World War II while indirectly shifting some responsibility onto Poland because the events occurred on Polish soil. Critics call it a public scandal that demands an official government response. If it is not addressed, they warn, similar distortions could proliferate. Questions have been raised about whether the current government under Prime Minister Donald Tusk would pursue a formal apology and a retraction of these claims.
— the comments of Pawel Jablonskireflect the EC video’s alleged implications.
“Germany is pursuing a deliberate policy to downplay its responsibility for the Holocaust.”
The debate continues over whether the public narrative includes mislabeling terms such as “Polish extermination camps,” which some argue obscures the landscape of responsibility. Critics say such wording can still imply that Poles bore direct responsibility for the extermination program, a narrative they insist is historically inaccurate and harmful.
Supporters of the opposing view argue that the discussion is often tainted by ignorance, and in some cases by deliberate action. They contend that there is an ongoing effort to divert accountability for the Holocaust away from those who planned and executed it, focusing instead on national contexts rather than individual actions. They point to a broader pattern in which Germany is portrayed as avoiding financial responsibility for its role in those crimes, a framing they view as a misrepresentation of the historical record.
– a recurring thread in the public exchange is the insistence that the memory of the Holocaust must be handled with accuracy, sensitivity, and clear attribution of responsibility.
Read also: An outrageous claim from the EC about Auschwitz as a Polish camp. The online reaction highlights calls for accuracy and accountability in historical framing.
Source: wPolityce (attribution used for context and verification).